31 Ways to Mess Up Your Marriage – #25 – Failure to Express Appreciation

31 Ways to Mess Up Your Marriage
#25 Failure to Express Appreciation

Thank you. You’re welcome. I appreciate you. Words we teach our children, but sometimes we forget to verbalize them to one another.

I’m thinking about the holiday season, which is just around the corner. I don’t know of a season that women work any harder for the family than during the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. In addition to our regular duties of being wives and mothers, we are hostesses, chefs/cooks/bakers (being careful to prepare everyone’s particular holiday favorite), interior decorators, shoppers and wrappers of gifts, event planners and for some of us, members or directors of choirs and Christmas programs. It’s easy to get burned out and approach the holidays running on empty. A few simple words of appreciation can give us the impetus to continue.

My mother-in-law taught me early in our marriage that men thrive on praise. An occasional word of appreciation – “Thank you, Honey, for servicing the car,” or “I appreciate how hard you work for our family,” will give your husband fuel to run on for a long time. (Tweet this!)

Every so often my husband will say to me, “I am so blessed to be married to you.” Just for no reason! That also goes a long way to making me feel appreciated. Don’t neglect to speak words of appreciation to your spouse. (Tweet this!) We tell the waitress in the restaurant, “Thank you,” for serving us a meal. We certainly can thank our spouse for cooking a meal or mowing a yard.

A member of our church asked us one time if this was a second marriage for us. Rather surprised we replied that it was a first marriage for both of us. I asked the young woman, “Why did you think it was a second marriage?”

Her reply was eye opening. “Well, you all are so respectful and courteous to each other, I just thought you couldn’t have been married very long.”

The truth is that familiarity sometimes makes us careless about extending common courtesies to the people we love the most. (Tweet this!) “Pass the salt, please.” “Thank you.” Opening the door for one’s spouse. The dozens of simple expressions of appreciation that need to be expressed every day to our loved ones.

Colossians 4:6 – “Let your conversation be always full of grace … ”

Thoughts and Questions for my Readers

Have you perhaps grown careless about expressing word of appreciation to your mate? How about determining to begin to express appreciation in small ways?
Are you teaching your children to be appreciative?
Please share stories of where someone went out of their way to express appreciation to you and it made all the difference in your day.

 

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